Powered and manual auger

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods for drilling a hole. A hybrid powered and manual auger is disclosed. The auger may include one or more cutting blades coupled to a drive shaft driven by a motor. The auger may further include a manual crank configured to rotate the motor and the drive shaft about a drive axis. The manual crank comprises a U-shaped offset formed by an upper crank arm and a lower crank arm joined by a crank handle portion. The drive shaft can be rotated by the motor alone, by rotation of the manual crank alone, and by a combination of the motor and rotation of the manual crank.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/498,749, filed Jun. 20, 2011, andentitled POWERED AND MANUAL AUGER, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to augers for drilling holes, and inparticular to a hole drilling method and apparatus.

BACKGROUND

Augers are used to drill narrow holes, such as through ice for icefishing or in the earth for setting posts. A typical auger has one ormore boring blades at the lower end of an upright drive shank and aspiral flighting extending from the boring blades up a lower portion ofthe drive shank. The drive shank is rotated to turn the blades to bore ahole, such as through the ice. Some augers are manual, such that thedrive shank is rotated manually, by an operator turning a crank. Otheraugers are powered, such that the drive shank is rotated by an electricmotor or fuel-powered engine.

Presently, powered augers cannot be operated by hand, which createschallenges when the source of power (e.g. fuel, electricity, battery,etc.) runs out or is not available. Similarly, present manual augers donot provide a powered option. Accordingly, users desiring a poweredauger option may need to carry both a powered auger and a manual auger.Augers can be large and awkward to transport, which makes carrying andtransporting two separate augers burdensome.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to embodiments of and methods ofusing a hybrid, powered and manual, auger that can be operated as amanual auger or a powered auger independently and in combination.

Additional aspects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of preferred embodiments, which proceeds withreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The written disclosure herein describes illustrative embodiments thatare non-limiting and non-exhaustive. Reference is made to certain ofsuch illustrative embodiments that are depicted in the figures, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electric and manual ice auger, according toone embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a handle portion of the electric andmanual ice auger of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a top handle of the electric and manualice auger of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a drive motor of the electric and manualice auger of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a battery mount of the drive motor of FIG.4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure is directed to embodiments of and methods ofusing a hybrid powered and manual auger that can be operated as a manualauger or a powered auger independently and in combination. Describeddifferently, the embodiments of the present disclosure can be operatedas a manual auger without power (manual-only operation), or operated asa powered auger driven by a motor without any manual power (power-onlyoperation), or operated as a combined manual and powered auger. A usercan rely on a single auger apparatus of the present disclosure toprovide a powered auger option, without concern for situations when thepower source for the powered auger option runs out or is unavailable.Were the power source to be unavailable, manual-only operation of theauger would be available. Moreover, the user can enhance the drillingcapability of the auger by combining manual power and electrical power.

The following description is made with particular reference to iceaugers. However, an ordinarily skilled artisan appreciate that augerscan also be used to drill holes for a variety of purposes besidesdrilling holes in or through ice. For example, an auger can be used todrill holes in the ground, such as for setting posts (e.g. a fencepost), or other situations where a narrow hole is advantageous. Atypical auger hole is four to ten inches in diameter.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be best understood byreference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by likenumerals throughout. It will be readily understood that the componentsof the present disclosure, as generally described and illustrated in thedrawings herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations. Thus, the following more detailed descriptionof the embodiments of the apparatus is not intended to limit the scopeof the disclosure, but is merely representative of possible embodimentsof the disclosure. In addition, the steps of a method do not necessarilyneed to be executed in any specific order, or even sequentially, norneed the steps be executed only once, unless otherwise specified. Insome cases, well-known structures, materials, or operations are notshown or described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an electric and manualice auger 100, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.The auger 100 includes a bit 102, a drive shaft 104, a drive motor 106,and a handle portion 108, which includes a manual crank 110. The bit 102and drive shaft 104 are concentric and coaxial, sharing a longitudinalaxis that can be referred to as a drive axis 105, about which rotationof various components of the auger 100 occurs and along which thedrilling direction occurs, as will be described below. As can beappreciated, other embodiment of an auger can be used for purposes otherthan drilling holes in ice, such as drilling holes in the ground.

The bit 102 comprises a central bit shank 112 to drive one or more icecutting blades 114 positioned and fixedly secured at the distal (lower)end of the bit shank 112. A spiral auger 116 or flighting is coaxiallymounted around the bit shank 112, extending up the drive axis 105. Thebit 102, and correspondingly the bit shank 112, the ice cutting blades114, and the spiral auger 116, are configured to rotate around the driveaxis 105, when the auger 100 is in operation. The proximal (upper) endof the bit shank 112 is configured to couple concentrically to the driveshaft 104 aligned with the drive axis 105. As the bit shank 112 isrotated about the drive axis 105, the ice cutting blades 114 and spiralauger 116 also rotate around the drive axis 105. If the ice cuttingblades 114 are pressed against ice and rotated, the ice cutting blades114 will gradually bore a hole in the ice in a direction distally alongthe drive axis 105. The spiral auger 116 is configured to lift iceshavings away from the ice cutting blades 114, proximally along thedrive axis, and out of the hole being cut.

As can be appreciated, in another embodiment, the bit shank 112 and thedrive shaft 104 may be integrated and/or comprise the same component. Inthe present embodiment, the bit 102 can be removed from the drive shaft104 for easy replacement, repair, sharpening, etc. However, this isfeature is optional and the blades 114 and spiral auger 116 can bemounted to a single, unitary shaft extending from the drive motor 106.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the handle portion 108 of theelectric and manual ice auger of FIG. 1. The handle portion 108comprises a top handle 118 and the manual crank 110. The handle portion108 is configured to allow a user to operate the auger 100 manually.

The manual crank 110 comprises a U-shaped offset formed by two crankarms, an upper crank arm 120 and a lower crank arm 122, joined by acrank handle portion 124. The crank arms 120, 122 protrude radiallyoutward in the same direction, away from the drive axis 105, atdisparate points along the drive axis 105. The upper crank arm 120couples at an inner end to the top handle 118 and couples at an outerend to the crank handle portion 124. The lower crank arm 122 couples atan inner end to the drive motor 106 or other component coupled to thedrive shaft 104 and couples at an outer end to the crank handle portion124. The crank handle portion 124 may comprise a tubular memberconnecting outer ends of the crank arms 120, 122 and extendingsubstantially parallel to the drive axis 105. The manual crank 110 maybe operated by rotating the crank handle portion 124 about the driveaxis 105, thereby rotating the drive shaft 104 and bit shank 112, whichin turn rotates the one or more ice cutting blades 114 and the spiralauger 116. The distance D1 created by the crank arms 120, 122 betweenthe longitudinal axis of the crank handle portion 124 and the drive axis105 provides leverage to enable the manual crank 110 to drive (rotate)the drive shaft 104, and in turn rotate the bit 102.

The crank handle portion 124 may further comprise a hand grip 126configured to rotate (or spin) about the longitudinal axis of the crankhandle portion 124, allowing a user to more easily rotate the crank 110about the drive axis 105. The rotatable hand grip 126 allows the user tofirmly grasp the crank and/or apply a firm downward pressure whileturning the crank 110.

The crank handle portion 124 may further comprise a trigger 127 toactivate the drive motor 106. The trigger 127 may be positioned on thehand grip 126 to allow a user to easily activate the drive motor whilegrasping the hand grip 126. The drive motor 106, when activated by thetrigger 127, may spin the drive shaft 104 and the bit 102. The triggerof the hand grip 126 of the crank 110 may work in conjunction withanother trigger 130, such as on the top handle 118, to provide atwo-button activation safety mechanism, as discussed in greater detailbelow.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a top handle 118 of the electric andmanual ice auger of FIG. 1. The top handle 118 comprises an upper shaftthat is aligned coaxial with both the drive shaft 104 and the bit shank112. The top handle 118, although aligned with the drive shaft 104 onthe drive axis 105, is separated from the drive shaft 104 by a distanceD2, as shown in FIG. 2. The separation (of distance D2) allows a user'sarm to pass through the drive axis 105 unimpeded when turning the crank110 to operate the auger 100 manually. The user can hold the top handle118 to steady the auger 100 during both manual and/or powered operationof the auger 100. The user can also provide a downward force along thedrive axis 105 using the top handle 118.

As can be appreciated, in other embodiments the top handle 118 may bepositioned non-concentric (not aligned or not co-axial) with the driveshaft 104 and the bit shank 112, at a distance away from the drive axis105 equal to the distance D2 of the crank handle portion 124 away fromthe longitudinal axis of the drive shaft 104, and on an opposite side ofthe drive axis 105 of the drive shaft 104. Accordingly, the top handle118 and crank handle portion 124 can simultaneously be rotated about thedrive axis 105 to rotate the drive shaft 104.

The top handle 118 may also comprise a rotatable hand grip 128configured to rotate (or spin) about a longitudinal axis of the tophandle 118. A rotatable hand grip 128 allows a user to firmly grip thetop handle 118 while operating the crank 110.

In the illustrated embodiment, the top handle 118 includes a trigger 130on top of the rotatable hand grip 128 to activate the drive motor 106. Auser can grasp the hand grip 128 of the top handle 118 in the hand andoperate the trigger 130 with, for example, the thumb. The trigger 130causes the drive motor 106 to spin the drive shaft 104 and the bit 102.As can be appreciated, the trigger 130 may be positioned other than onthe top of the hand grip 128, so as to be operated by one or moredifferent fingers.

The trigger 130 may function in conjunction with another trigger 127(shown in FIG. 2) on the hand grip 126 of the crank 110 to provide atwo-button activation safety mechanism. The trigger 130 of the tophandle 118 and the trigger 127 of the crank 110 may be configured torequire concurrent activation in order to activate the drive motor 106.Concurrent activation may require that the user place both hands on theauger 100, one hand on the top handle 118 and the other hand on thecrank 110, to use the power-option of the auger 100, which can limitaccidental or inadvertent activation of the drive motor 106.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a drive motor 106 of the electric andmanual ice auger 100 of FIG. 1. The drive motor 106 enables the poweredoption of the electric and manual ice auger 100. The drive motor 106 ofthe illustrated embodiment is electric and comprises a battery 132 toprovide a source of electric power to the drive motor 106. As can beappreciated, in another embodiment the drive motor 106 may be other thanelectric powered. For example, the drive motor 106 may be a fuel-poweredengine.

The drive motor 106 is coupled at a distal end to the drive shaft 104and is configured to rotate the drive shaft 104 on (or about) the driveaxis 105. The drive motor 106 is also coupled to the lower crank arm122. By coupling the lower crank arm 122 to the drive motor 106, thecrank 110 can be used to hold the drive motor 106 rotationally fixed(not rotating around the drive axis 105) during power-only operation ofthe auger 100. The crank 110 can also be used to rotate the drive motor106 around the drive axis 105 in the direction of drilling (thedirection in which the one or more ice cutting blades 114 rotate whencutting ice) for either manual-only operation of the auger 100 orcombined manual and power operation of the auger 100.

The drive motor 106 may include an internal breaking mechanism and/orlocking mechanism 140 to lock the drive shaft 104 relative to the drivemotor 106. Locking the drive shaft 104 relative to the drive motor 106may enable the drive motor 106 to be rotated manually, such as with themanual crank 110, to rotate the drive shaft 104, the bit 102, and theice cutting blades 114. In one embodiment the locking mechanism 140 maybe a pin. In another embodiment, the locking mechanism 140 may be aspring loaded pin. In another embodiment, the locking mechanism 140 mayinclude a button to activate an internal breaking mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a battery mount 134 of the drive motor 106of FIG. 4. As illustrated, the battery 132 of the illustrated embodimentis mounted on the side of the drive motor 106. The battery mount 134allows the battery 132 to quickly slide and lock into position, whilealso allowing quick release of the battery 132 for ease of charging. Thebattery mount 134 also allows a dead or drained battery to be exchangedfor a charged battery.

As can be appreciated, in other embodiments the battery mount 134 may bepositioned in different configurations. For example, the battery mount134 may be positioned on a different side of the drive motor. Thebattery mount 134 may also be positioned on top of the drive motor 106,so as to be in line with the drive axis 105. Positioning the battery 132in line with the drive axis 105 can harness gravity to provide abalanced downward force, down the drive axis, to enhance effectivenessof the ice cutting blades 114.

It will be obvious to those having skill in the art that many changesmay be made to the details of the above-described embodiments withoutdeparting from the underlying principles of the invention.

1. An auger comprising: one or more cutting blades configured topenetrate a surface of a material in which a hole is desired; a driveshaft coupled to the one or more cutting blades and configured to rotatethe one or more cutting blades around a drive axis in line with alongitudinal axis of the drive shaft, the cutting blades positioned at adistal end of the drive shaft; a spiral auger blade extending a lengthfrom the one or more cutting blades toward a proximal end of the driveshaft, the spiral auger blade configured to raise debris created by theblades out of the hole as the spiral auger blade is rotated in adrilling direction, the drive shaft coupled to the spiral auger bladeand configured to rotate the spiral auger blade around the drive axis inthe drilling direction; a motor coupled to the drive shaft andconfigured to, when activated, rotate the drive shaft on the drive axis;and a manual crank coupled to the motor and configured to rotate themotor and the drive shaft about the drive axis, the manual crankcomprising a U-shaped offset formed by an upper crank arm and a lowercrank arm joined by a crank handle portion, wherein the drive shaft canbe rotated by the motor alone, by rotation of the manual crank alone,and by a combination of the motor and rotation of the manual crank. 2.An auger of claim 1, further comprising: a hand grip for the manualcrank positioned on the crank handle portion, the hand grip rotatableabout a longitudinal axis of the crank handle portion and relative tothe crank handle portion; and a trigger on the hand grip of the manualcrank to activate the motor.
 3. An auger of claim 1, further comprising:a top handle coupled to the upper crank arm and positioned above andseparate from the drive shaft and aligned with the drive axis, the tophandle rotatable about the drive axis and relative to the crank arm; anda trigger on the top handle to activate the motor.
 4. An auger of claim1, further comprising: a hand grip for the manual crank positioned onthe crank handle portion, the hand grip rotatable about a longitudinalaxis of the crank handle portion and relative to the crank handleportion; a trigger on the hand grip of the manual crank to activate themotor; a top handle coupled to the upper crank arm and positioned aboveand separate from the drive shaft and aligned with the drive axis, thetop handle rotatable about the drive axis and relative to the crank arm;and a trigger on the top handle to activate the motor, wherein the drivemotor is activated by concurrent activation of the trigger on the handgrip of the manual crank and activation of the trigger on the tophandle, such that the two triggers provide a two-button activationsafety mechanism by ensuring two hands are positioned on the auger whenthe motor of the auger is activated.
 5. An auger of claim 1, furthercomprising a breaking mechanism configured to lock the drive shaftrelative to the motor to enable the motor to be manually rotated torotate the drive shaft and the blades.
 6. An auger of claim 1, whereinthe motor is an electric motor.
 7. An auger of claim 1, wherein themotor is a fuel-powered engine.
 8. An auger of claim 1, furthercomprising a two-button activation mechanism to ensure two hands arepositioned on the auger when the motor of the auger is activated, thetwo-button activation mechanism comprising: a trigger on a hand grip ofthe manual crank; and a trigger on a top handle, the top handle coupledto the upper crank arm and positioned above and separate from the driveshaft and aligned with the drive axis, wherein the drive motor isactivated by concurrent activation of the trigger on the hand grip ofthe manual crank and activation of the trigger on the top handle, suchthat the two triggers provide a safety mechanism to ensure two hands arepositioned on the auger when the motor of the auger is activated.
 9. Anauger comprising: a drive shaft configured to rotate on a drive axis inline with a longitudinal axis of the drive shaft; an auger bit coupledto the drive shaft and configured to be rotated by the drive shaft onthe drive axis, the auger bit comprising: a bit shank having an elongateshape having a proximal end and distal end, the proximal end configuredto releasably couple to the drive shaft; one or more blades disposed atthe distal end of the bit shank and configured to penetrate a surface inwhich the hole is desired as a force is applied down the drive shaft anddown the bit shank, the bit shank coupled to the one or more blades andconfigured to rotate the one or more blades around the drive axis in adrilling direction to cause the blades to bore into the surface; and aspiral auger blade spiraling and extending a length from the one or moreblades at the distal end of the bit shank toward the proximal end of thebit shank, the spiral auger blade configured to raise debris created bythe blades out of the hole as the spiral auger blade is rotated in thedrilling direction, the bit shank coupled to the spiral auger blade andconfigured to rotate the spiral auger blade around the drive axis in thedrilling direction; a motor coupled to the drive shaft and configuredto, when activated, rotate the drive shaft on the drive axis and therebyrotate the auger bit; and a manual crank configured to rotate the motorand the drive shaft about the drive axis, the manual crank comprising aU-shaped offset formed by an upper crank arm and a lower crank armjoined by a crank handle portion, wherein the drive shaft can be rotatedby the motor alone, by rotation of the manual crank alone, and by acombination of the motor and rotation of the manual crank.
 10. An augerof claim 9, further comprising: a top handle coupled to the upper crankarm and positioned above and separate from the drive shaft and alignedwith the drive axis, the top handle rotatable about the drive axis andrelative to the crank arm; a hand grip for the manual crank positionedon the crank handle portion, the hand grip rotatable about alongitudinal axis of the crank handle portion and relative to the crankhandle portion; and a trigger on at least one of the top handle and themanual crank to activate the motor.
 11. An auger of claim 10, furthercomprising: a trigger on the other of the top handle and the manualcrank to activate the motor, such that both the top handle and the handgrip include a trigger.
 12. An auger of claim 11, wherein the drivemotor is activated by concurrent activation of the trigger on the handgrip of the manual crank and activation of the trigger on the tophandle, such that the two triggers provide a two-button activationsafety mechanism by ensuring two hands are positioned on the auger whenthe motor of the auger is activated.
 13. An auger of claim 9, furthercomprising a two-button activation mechanism to ensure two hands arepositioned on the auger when the motor of the auger is activated, thetwo-button activation mechanism comprising: a trigger on a hand grip ofthe manual crank; and a trigger on a top handle, the top handle coupledto the upper crank arm and positioned above and separate from the driveshaft and aligned with the drive axis, wherein the drive motor isactivated by concurrent activation of the trigger on the hand grip ofthe manual crank and activation of the trigger on the top handle, suchthat the two triggers provide a safety mechanism to ensure two hands arepositioned on the auger when the motor of the auger is activated.
 14. Anauger of claim 9, further comprising a breaking mechanism configured tolock the drive shaft relative to the motor to enable the motor to bemanually rotated to rotate the drive shaft and the blades.
 15. An augerof claim 9, wherein the motor is an electric motor.
 16. An auger ofclaim 9, wherein the motor is a fuel-powered engine.
 17. A method ofdrilling a hole, comprising: positioning an auger on a surface where thehole is desired, the auger configured to operate powered and manually,the auger comprising: one or more cutting blades configured to penetratethe surface in which the hole is desired; a drive shaft coupled to theone or more cutting blades and configured to rotate the one or morecutting blades around a drive axis in line with a longitudinal axis ofthe drive shaft, the cutting blades positioned at a distal end of thedrive shaft; a spiral auger blade spiraling and extending a length fromthe one or more cutting blades toward a proximal end of the drive shaft,the spiral auger blade configured to raise debris created by the bladesout of the hole as the spiral auger blade is rotated in the drillingdirection, the drive shaft coupled to the spiral auger blade andconfigured to rotate the spiral auger blade around the drive axis in thedrilling direction; a motor coupled to the drive shaft and configuredto, when activated, rotate the drive shaft on the drive axis; and amanual crank configured to rotate the motor and the drive shaft aboutthe drive axis, the manual crank comprising; a U-shaped offset formed byan upper crank arm and a lower crank arm joined by a crank handleportion; a hand grip for the manual crank positioned on the crank handleportion, the hand grip rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the crankhandle portion and relative to the crank handle portion, the hand gripincluding a trigger to activate the motor; and a top handle coupled tothe upper crank arm and positioned above and separate from the driveshaft and aligned with the drive axis, the top handle rotatable aboutthe drive axis and relative to the crank arm, the top handle including atrigger to activate the motor, wherein the drive motor is activated byconcurrent activation of the trigger on the hand grip of the manualcrank and activation of the trigger on the top handle; positioning afirst hand on the hand grip of the manual crank; positioning a secondhand on the top handle; and activating the motor to rotate the driveshaft and drill the hole.
 18. The method of drilling a hole of claim 17,further comprising rotating the manual crank with the first hand torotate the drive shaft by a combination of the motor and rotation of themanual crank.
 19. The method of drilling a hole of claim 17, whereinactivating of the motor includes manipulating one of the trigger on thehand grip and the trigger on the top handle to activate the motor torotate the drive shaft and drill the hole.
 20. The method of drilling ahole of claim 17, wherein the motor of the auger is configured such thatactivation of the motor requires concurrent manipulation of the triggeron the hand grip and the trigger on the top handle, and whereinactivating the motor includes concurrently manipulating the trigger onthe hand grip and the trigger on the top handle.